Caer bien/mal

[Haroonharry]

Hi,

I'm looking for an explanation of "Caer bien/mal" and any contextual uses of it in sentences with different conjugations.

Many thanks in advance.

[Perikles]

To be honest, it sounds as if you could use a comprehensive dictionary. I have bought the Oxford English-Spanish dictionary, which comes with a CD for a computer version. This is just half of what it gives for the verb caer:

(The E16 refers to the way it conjugates)
caer [E16] verbo intransitivo
A (de una altura) to fall; (de la posición vertical) to fall over; caí mal y me rompí una pierna I fell badly o awkwardly and broke my leg; tropezó y cayó cuan largo era he tripped and fell flat on his face; cayó de espaldas/de bruces she fell flat on her back/face; cayeron de rodillas y le pidieron perdón they fell o dropped to their knees and begged for forgiveness; cayó el telón the curtain came down o fell; la pelota cayó en el pozo the ball fell o dropped into the well; el coche cayó por un precipicio the car went over a cliff; cayó muerto allí mismo he dropped down dead on the spot; se dejó caer en el sillón she flopped into the armchair; se dejó caer desde el borde del precipicio he jumped off from the edge of the cliff; el avión cayó en picada or (España) en picado the plane nosedived; el helicóptero cayó en el mar the helicopter came down o crashed in the sea; le caían lágrimas de los ojos tears fell from her eyes o rolled down her cheeks; caer parado (América Latina) (literal) to land on one's feet; (tener suerte) to fall o land on one's feet; dejar caer algo‹objeto› to drop; ‹noticia› to let drop o fall; lo dejó caer así, como quien no quiere la cosa she just slipped it into the conversation, she just let it drop in passing
B «chaparrón/nevada»: cayó una helada there was a frost; cayó una fuerte nevada it snowed heavily; empezó a caer granizo it began to hail; está cayendo un aguacero it's pouring; cayeron unas pocas gotas there were a few drops of rain; el rayo cayó muy cerca de aquí the lightning struck very near here
C
1 «cortinas/falda» (colgar, pender) to hang; con un poco de almidón la tela cae mejor a little starch makes the fabric hang better; el pelo le caía suelto hasta la cintura her hair hung down to her waist
2 «terreno» to drop, fall; el terreno cae en pendiente hacia el río the land falls away o slopes down toward(s) the river
D
1 (incurrir) caer en algo: no caigas en el error de decírselo don't make the mistake of telling him; no nos dejes caer en la tentación lead us not into temptation; cayó en la tentación de leer la carta she succumbed to the temptation to read the letter; la obra por momentos cae en lo ridículo at times the play lapses into the ridiculous; esos chistes ya caen en lo chabacano those jokes can only be described as vulgar; caer muy bajo to stoop very low; venderse así es caer muy bajo I wouldn't stoop so low as to sell myself like that; ¡qué bajo has caído! you've sunk pretty low!, how low can you get!, that's stooping pretty low!
2 (en un engaño, un timo): a todos nos hizo el mismo cuento y todos caímos he told us all the same story and we all fell for it; ¿cómo pudiste caer en semejante trampa? how could you be taken in by o fall for a trick like that?; caer como chinos or angelitos (familiar): todos cayeron como chinos or angelitos they swallowed it hook, line and sinker
E (familiar) (entender, darse cuenta): ¡ah, ya caigo! oh, now I get it! (familiar); see at cuenta1G
F (en un estado): caer en desuso«palabra» to fall into disuse; «costumbre» to die out; caer en el olvido to sink into oblivion; see at desgraciaA
G
1 «gobierno/ciudad/plaza» to fall; la capital había caído en poder del enemigo the capital had fallen into enemy hands; ¡que no vaya a caer en manos del profesor! don't let the teacher get hold of it!, don't let it fall into the teacher's hands!
2 (perder el cargo) to lose one's job; cayó por disentir con ellos he lost his job o (familiar) came to grief because he disagreed with them; vamos a continuar con la investigación, caiga quien caiga we are going to continue with the investigation, however many heads have to roll
3 «soldado» (morir) to fall, die
4 (ser apresado) to be caught; han caído los cabecillas de la pandilla the gang leaders have been caught
5 caer enfermo to fall ill, be taken ill; cayó en cama he took to his bed; yo también caí con gripe I went o came down with flu as well
H
1 «desgracia/maldición»caer sobre alguien to befall somebody (formal o literario); la tragedia que ha caído sobre nuestro pueblo the tragedy that has befallen our nation
2 al caer la tarde/la noche at sunset o dusk/nightfall; antes de que caiga la noche before it gets dark o before nightfall
.

[Perikles]

... which didn't answer your question, which is...

J (+ complemento)
1 (sentar): el pescado me cayó mal the fish didn't agree with me; le cayó muy mal que no la invitaran she wasn't invited and she took it very badly, she was very upset at o about not being invited; la noticia me cayó como un balde or jarro de agua fría the news came as a real shock
2 (en cuestiones de gusto): tu primo me cae muy bien or muy simpático I really like your cousin; no lo soporto, me cae de gordo/de mal … (familiar) I can't stand him, he's a real pain (familiar); see at graciaE

[wrholt]

I'll take a stab at explanation: first, the expression is actually "caerle bien/mal (a alguien)". A word-for-word translation is "to fall well/badly on/to someone".

This expression is equivalent to saying "to like/dislike someone/something" or "someone/something doesn't agree with someone", but the grammar sometimes seems sort-of-backwards from the perspective of a native speaker of English, especially when it is equivalent to "like/dislike". For example:

"María me cae bien/mal" = "I like/dislike María"

Grammatically:

"María"is the subject of "cae bien/mal", but the direct object of "like/dislike".
"Me" is the indirect object of "cae bien/mal", but "I" is the subject of "like/dislike".

So, to translate "Anne likes Bob", one takes the direct object "Bob" and makes it the subject of "caerle bien/mal", and one takes the subject "Anne" and makes it the indirect object of "caerle bien/mal", and we end up with:

"Bob le cae bien/mal a Anne".

In the other direction, one takes the subject of "caerle bien/mal" and makes it the direct object of "like/dislike", and one takes the indirect object of "caerle bien/mal" and makes it the subject of "like/dislike".

"Caerle bien/mal" is just one of a few common verbs that follow this pattern, that is, where the equivalent expressions seem to have the reverse grammar structure.

As Perikles points out, sometimes "caerle bien/mal" can be better translated as "to agree/disagree with someone": in this case the grammar structures match much better.

[JPablo]

Agree with the above. My personal feeling is that "caer bien/mal" could be a "first impression" type of attitude, I.e., "I don't know Alfred very well, but I feel like I don't like him" = "No conozco a Alfred muy bien, pero no me cae bien".

Also "caer mal" = "rub +noun up the wrong way" (to rub somebody up the wrong way)

Why people don't like you? = ¿Por qué le caes mal a la gente?

Why do people like you? = ¿Por qué le caes bien a la gente?

[chileno]

Originally Posted by JPablo

Agree with the above. My personal feeling is that "caer bien/mal" could be a "first impression" type of attitude, I.e., "I don't know Alfred very well, but I feel like I don't like him" = "No conozco a Alfred muy bien, pero no me cae bien".

Also "caer mal" = "rub +noun up the wrong way" (to rub somebody up the wrong way)

Why people don't like you? = ¿Por qué le caes mal a la gente?

Why do people like you? = ¿Por qué le caes bien a la gente?

That's exactly it.


you fall good on me!

[JPablo]

U 2!